The terror threats in the UK earlier this month affected many travelers, many of which had purchased travel insurance policies. Many of the policies even contain coverage for Acts of Terrorism in a city or country which you intend to visit.

Terrorist threats, however, are generally not covered

The following from Access America’s (now Allianz Travel Insurance) travel insurance plans:

9. A terrorist act committed by an organized terrorist group (recognized as such by the U.S. State Department) that results in property damage, Injury or loss of life. The incident must take place in a domestic or foreign city in which You are scheduled to arrive within 30 days following the incident and Your tour operator (if applicable) must not have offered a substitute itinerary. For foreign terrorism coverage only, coverage for travel to or through countries in which such a documented or reported incident has occurred during the 30 days prior to purchase of insurance is excluded. Losses resulting due to the issuance of travel advisories, bulletin or alerts; war or acts thereof; civil disorder, riot or unrest; bomb scares or threats of terrorist activity; or terrorist acts against any Common Carrier (e.g., airline or cruise line) are not covered. …

One way to avoid some issues is to purchase a “cancel for any reason” policy. At least those travelling a few days after the threats were able to cancel their trip and recover up to 75% of the trip cost.

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Most travel insurance policies have coverage for trip cancellation. The catch, however, is the reason for cancellation.

In order for the benefits to be paid, the reason for cancellation must be outlined in the policy; deaths in the family, personal injury before departing, loss of home to fire, loss of employment, etc.

In other words, if you just decide a week before your vacation that you don’t want to go anymore, you will not me covered. A good example would be the thwarted terror plot earlier this month. There were certainly travelers who did not want to fly after the incident, but their standard travel insurance policy would not cover it.

There are two companies, however, that do offer “cancel for any reason” options on the trip protection policies. This allows the insured traveler to literally cancel for any reason, up to 2 days before the trip.

TravelSafe Insurance and M.H. Ross Insurance broker (which operates tripinsurance.com) offer “cancel for any reason” options for some of their policies, offered at InsureMyTrip.com. The “cancel for any reason” aspect in an option you can elect to add to their existing products.

“Cancel for any reason” covers 75% of the non-refundable trip cost, and requires that:
* The plan be purchased within 15 days of trip deposit;
* “Cancel For Any Reason” option must be selected by the purchaser;
* All pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs are insured;
* Your trip is cancelled two (2) or more days before the departure date.

In other words, you need to buy it close to when you start planning the trip, be sure to check the “cancel for any reason” box, insure for the full trip cost, and make your decision 2 or more days ahead of time.

“Cancel for any reason” can add a significant amount to your policy premium. Also keep in mind that the paid benefits are not full reimbersment, but 75% of the total trip cost. If it still makes sense to you, buy it and rest easy knowing you can back out from the trip and not suffer a total trip cost loss.

Related Links
“Cancel for any reason” page at InsureMyTrip.com
Article from SmarterTravel.com

From the Central Valley Business Times, an article and MP3 interview with Insurance Information Network of California spokesman Tully Lehman.

Mr. Lehman answers basic questions about travel insurance needs, when to buy, how to research, and exclusions.

Interview lasts less than 5 minutes

Related Links
Link to interview with Tully Lehman, at bottom of page

Trip Assured was recently ordered to cease and desist from selling their insurance products in the State of Texas, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. They claim that Trip Assured Inc., a Crossville, Tenn. based company has engaged in the business of insurance by soliciting, marketing, selling, administering, executing, and issuing travel insurance policies to Texas residents.

However, the company holds no license, certificate, or authorization to practice the business of insurance in Texas.

The Trip Assured site now forwards to HTH Worldwide when selecting Texas as you place of residence. In fact, their site now forwards to HTH Worldwide for several states, indicating they may have similar issues in those states.

Fortunately for those currently holding a Trip Assured policy in Texas, the company is still responsible for claims made against their policies.

 

The hospital expenses can be bad, but getting home can be a nightmare
The medical expenses are only a part of an accident or illness while on vacation. Let’s say you are on vacation in South America and suffer an illness or accident. You’re taken to the nearest hospital and they begin treatment. Some travelers, at this point, would want to be taken home to their regular doctor for treatment, but sometimes you cannot merely get on a commercial jet and make the flight.

You might need constant medical care, a stretcher, IV’s, or a number of other special needs that cannot always be met on a commercial airline. In these circumstances, a special plane and staff would be required.

In some cases, in the event of a minor injury, a patient might be able to fly commercial, but will require an entire row of seats at full retail cost. For a last minute flight this can easily cost several thousand dollars.

Emergency Medical Evacuation coverage pays for you to be transported to the nearest qualified medical facility or to your home country, depending on which plan you buy
The most popular type of travel insurance plans, sometimes called a package plan, provide emergency medical evacuation. These plans include medical expenses, baggage and flight coverage, and are popular because they have common coverage for the everyday traveler. There are, however, some limitations placed on the medical evacuation coverage compared to “all-inclusive” services like MedjetAssist

Most companies require that any travel arrangements are made through their support center. They have good relationships with travel providers and have arranged for special equipment, services, staffing, and rates, and need to make the arrangements to take advantage of that relationship.

In general, look for a package plan that has some level of medical evacuation coverage. Most plans offer anywhere between $100,000 and $1,000,000.

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Photo Credit: vegasmike433

MedjetAssist provides annual memberships for medical evacuation cost coverage. As a MedjetAssist member, if you are hospitalized virtually anywhere in the world, they will provide air transport.

MedjetAssist specializes in providing medical evacuation services, they do not provide coverage for medical treatment. Unlike some other insurance companies that offer a medical evacuation plan in addition to their other medical plans, this is MedjetAssist’s focus and specialty. Here is how they get you home:

MedjetAssist offers some of the simplest benefits:

1. Medical evacuation is at member’s discretion, not decided by the company

2. Evacuation is provided from any hospital in the world, to any hospital in the world

3. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

4. No limits on medical evacuation expense

5. All MedjetAssist aircraft are specially equipped and staffed for medical needs

MedjetAssist plans can be purchased for 1, 3, and 5 year plans. Their basic plan allows for up to 90 days of travel per year, and other plans provide for longer travel.

It is important to note that MedjetAssist does not provide medical expense coverage. In other words, you still need medical coverage or travel insurance to pay for hospital expenses in the event of an accident or illness.

MedjetAssist simply provides proper medical transportation to the hospital of your choice.

Finding the right company, and then right policy for your trip can be difficult.

Here are 3 things I really like about the CSA Travel Protection site and how they offer their travel insurance products.

1. The site is made for the consumer, not travel agents
Where some travel insurance sites cater to insurance agents, travel agents, or brokers, CSA Travel Protection is focused on the consumer. This makes it easier for a first-time travel insurance customer to understand the concept of travel insurance, and get their questions answered.

For example: Arriving at the landing page, you can’t miss the Get-a-Quote in the left column; and it isn’t a link to the quote page, this is the actual quote engine (quote widget?). With only 6 entry fields, you can get a quote within a minute.

2. They’ve kept the travel insurance buying process simple
The words “insurance” and “simple” typically don’t go together, but CSA has kept the wording straightforward and easy to understand. Again, this helps the first time buyer understand what the company does, and what policy is best for them.

For example: When you reach the quote page, you see your quote, in bold print, at the top of the page. They mention that for an additional amount you can upgrade your plan. Then, they simply provide two columns with dollar amounts of coverage, and check marks to indicate the differences in coverage.

Webite Feature: When you mouse over different insurance terms a window will instantly appear to describe that benefit or feature.

Scrolling all the way down shows the difference in the policies, and at the bottom you can decide which one is for you and click “Buy Now”, “Save Quote”, or “Email Quote”. Again, very simple and consumer focused.

Also, CSA Travel Insurance offers a limited selection of plans, which makes the buying process simpler. Even though many shoppers like to compare plan after plan, most people get “analysis paralysis” with too many choices. CSA offers Custom and Custom Luxe, which both offer great coverages at a great price. They also offer a single plan for groups: Group Go!.

3. CSA offers higher lost baggage coverage, and ID Theft protection
This goes back to the consumer focus again, but these are common concerns with travelers. Many trip protection plans will offer baggage coverage from $500 to $1000, but CSA has higher lost baggage benefits of $2000 and $3000, depending on the plan.

CSA Travel Protection has also begun including identity theft protection in case your wallet or purse is stolen while on vacation. This protection is automatically in place for 6 months from the start of your policy. Identity theft is a scary thought when it happens here in the States, but imagine when it happens in a foreign country.

What’s the difference between an underwriter, administrator, and agent?
In the world of tangible goods, you have a manufacturer, a distributor, and a retailer.

The manufacturer designs the product and decides what materials to use in making it.

The distributor negotiates prices with the manufacturer and arranges for the product to be sold by retailers.

The retailer finds customers, explains the product, makes the sale, and provides support.

It basically works the same in insurance
An underwriter is the manufacturer. They design the products (policies), decide what to include in it (coverages), and what they need to charge to make a profit (premium collected vs. risk of paid claims)

An administrator is the distributor. They handle phone calls, process applications, and administer policies. They also work with agents and brokers.

Agents are the retailers. They market the policies, help customers find the right product, answer questions, submit applications, and collect payment.

For example:
InsureMyTrip.com is an agency (retailer). They market policies for administrators such as CSA Travel Protection, Seven Corners, and Travelex. These administrators process payments/claims for policies underwritten by companies like AIG and Virginia Surety.

In the world of travel insurance, there are two basic types of coverage.

Medical expense coverage. As the name suggests, this will provide coverage for your medical expenses while outside your home country. If you break a leg, or get sick while traveling, this is the coverage you would want. Go to the hospital, give them your insurance card, and eligible expenses will be covered with travel medical insurance. You might even group emergency medical evacuation coverage in with this as well.

Trip cost coverage. Here, you have coverage for trip cancellation, lost baggage, delayed flights, or vacations that are cut-short. If you’re going to Cancun for 2 weeks, and a 3-day hurricane causes you to cancel your trip, this is the coverage you want to have.

Some travel insurance policies have aspects of both, but will usually focus their benefits on one area or the other.

For example; the Custom plan from CSA is focused on offering trip cost benefits including trip interruption, trip cancellation, anf lost baggage. It also provides, however, up to $50,000 of medical expense coverage. This is low compared to some medical expense plans that offer $1,000,000, but it still provides some medical coverage in addition to the trip cost benefits.

How do I decide which coverage I need?
Consider your destination and length of trip. If you are going to Europe for a week, the risk of a medical emergency is low, and you might choose trip cost coverage to protect the money you have spent on the trip. Plus, the “smaller” amount of medical coverage would give you some coverage.

If you are going to Tibet for 3 months, the risk for medical emergencies is much higher, and a medical cost plan is the right choice. Plus, the additional coverage would apply to emergency medical evacuations as well, and this can be one of the most expensive risks of all

Photo Credit: stuckincustoms

When many people think of travel insurance, they think of canceled vacations and lost baggage. The medical coverage offered by package policies is almost an added benefit, especially if you are traveling in your own country.

Travel insurance companies offer what is called a package policy, which includes some travel medical, trip cost, and medical evacuation benefits. This is a very common type of policy due to it’s broad range of coverage. Lost baggage travel insurance would be included in most package plans.

Lost baggage travel insurance coverage and benefits vary by provider

RBC Insurance offer their Deluxe policy with lost baggage benefits of up to $500, while TravelSafe offers their Vacation plan with up to $2500 of lost baggage benefits.

Most other policies are somewhere in between, offering $1000 to $1500 of baggage and personal effects benefits. If you have specific items such as camera or camping equipment and would like to protect them, you can opt for a higher coverage policy.

Also, some homowners policies may provide coverage for some of these items. Check your policy, and if you have adequate coverage for baggage, etc., you can shop for travel insurance with other criteria in mind knowing that your baggage is covered.